Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post - Can I buy three new 12V instead of six 6V?

yawood · 03-07-2019, 03:06 AM

As Scotty said, they will work but won't give the same run time.

When you connect batteries they can be connected in parallel or series. If you connect them in parallel then the voltage stays the same but the amp hours are added. If you connect them in series then the amp hours stay the same but the voltages are added.

Using two Trojan batteries as an example, the Trojan T105 is 6V and 225Ah whereas the Trojan T1275 is 12V and 150Ah.

You have a 36V cart with the power provided by 6 x 6V batteries connected in series. So the voltages are added, hence 6 x 6V to give you the 36V. The amp hours of your 6V battery is 225Ah and for 6 this stays the same so your pack has 36V and 225Ah.

If you used 3 x 12V batteries again the voltages would be added giving you 36V but the Ah would stay the same (which for the 12V batteries is 150Ah). So your pack would have 36V but only 150Ah.

This all means that your cart would run (they both give 36V) but the 6 x 6V battery pack will give you 50% more run time than the 3 x 12V pack.

That is the theory of it, in practice there are slight variations as other factors come into account, but the principle is the same.

03-07-2019, 03:06 AM	#5
yawood Gone Wild Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Queensland Australia Posts: 1,332	Re: Can I buy three new 12V instead of six 6V? As Scotty said, they will work but won't give the same run time. When you connect batteries they can be connected in parallel or series. If you connect them in parallel then the voltage stays the same but the amp hours are added. If you connect them in series then the amp hours stay the same but the voltages are added. Using two Trojan batteries as an example, the Trojan T105 is 6V and 225Ah whereas the Trojan T1275 is 12V and 150Ah. You have a 36V cart with the power provided by 6 x 6V batteries connected in series. So the voltages are added, hence 6 x 6V to give you the 36V. The amp hours of your 6V battery is 225Ah and for 6 this stays the same so your pack has 36V and 225Ah. If you used 3 x 12V batteries again the voltages would be added giving you 36V but the Ah would stay the same (which for the 12V batteries is 150Ah). So your pack would have 36V but only 150Ah. This all means that your cart would run (they both give 36V) but the 6 x 6V battery pack will give you 50% more run time than the 3 x 12V pack. That is the theory of it, in practice there are slight variations as other factors come into account, but the principle is the same.